Posted on 12/28/2002 11:13:08 AM PST by ex-Texan
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:40:14 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON (AP)
(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...
That said, I also agree with the many comments about people must become more self-reliant and make do with less. That's a lesson we'll all have to learn someday, when we retire.
Um... No, it isn't. Last time I looked, the employee's pot is different than the employer's pot.
Some is paid to insurance companies as a benefit for the employee.
'Unemployment Insurance' is an 'employee benefit'? I don't agree. For one, it's not optional... The state mandates that businesses pay 'unemployment insurance'. I've always seen it as a tax on business.
In contrast, relative to the amount of Social Security paid in, the amount paid back to undocumented Mexicans is minuscule. The difference is my ex-neighbor, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, who was quite effective at getting the "undocumented" Poles to vote his way in Chicago elections. He took care of his voters by making sure his Ways and Means Committee took care of them.
The employer would include his half of Social Security, and unemployment, and workers com in the paycheck GROSS. The money would be deducted from paychecks like any DIRECT DEPOSIT in a "fund". The employee could place it in any money market, balanced or unbalanced "fund" he chose. The employee could have a debit card which he would present to health care providers, etc for direct payment.
The employee would be very conscious that it was his money that he was in control of. Any he did not spend now he would have later, maybe with interest, depending on his choice of investments.
This removes the vast overhead of current administrative systems. 90% of us would come out ahead. Yes, 10% of people would misuse their money and suffer for it. They would get what they deserve. Note that illegal aliens did not create the government created problems we have. My parents and my boomer generation of idiot citizens created this problem by electing idiots to government.
Incidentally, government entitlements for immigrants is a totally different subject than allowing immigrants to work and earn their own money.
Actually I agree with this. I don't think that the government should be in the UI business. I think that people should be able to buy their own UI policy from whatever company would offer it. A company could buy it for their employees as a perk. I think that most people who are drawing UI would not object to it being a loan to be paid back at some later date. I am sure that a lot of people that are laid off would have been happy to purchase a layoff insurance policy
BUT that is not why I am posting on this thread. I am out here because a few morons out here think that the laid high tech workers are a bunch of lazy shiftless people who are staying out of work just to get that measly $4000 in extra UI. They offer boneheaded ideas about taking "any" job when in fact those jobs ARE NOT open to the laid off high tech worker. Instead of helping with the real problem which is the importation of the H1B worker and the migration of our high tech industry to offshore sites they give out imbecilic "advice" about getting some minimum wage job at K-Mart which would pay less than what is provided by UI. They just can't get it into their heads that the high tech worker spends many many hours a week looking for a job and can't work 40 hours at Burger King and still be available for interviews, job fairs and travel (for interviews). Some of these people believe that the high tech worker has not tried to get jobs even in those low paying areas when in fact they are working many hours a day to do exactly that (I know because I did). Some say that the high tech worker should have a saving account without ever considering that most did have investments and large accounts that were wiped out after 9-12 months of mortgage payments while unemployed. A lot (including myself) lost all their savimg and investments. Some want the high tech professional to sell their homes at a major loss move the family into Aunt Marthas and move to some Podunk town to sweep floors in some perverse modern day Grapes of Wrath.
What they thinly veil is their envy of the well educated highly skilled highly motivated high tech worker for their education and the success they used to enjoy. They refuse to believe that these people have worked very hard all their lives to build a lifelong career and are doing EVERYTHING they can to save it. They don't understand it because they themselves really haven't worked all that hard to get where they are at and have no clue what it takes to dedicate one's life to a career including many years of higher education and hard work gaining the skills necessary to build a viable career. In their little inexperienced clueless minds they think that a 25 year engineering career has as much value as their little "throw away" job and does not merit saving.
They also relish the pain the high tech workers are going thru because in their minds it validates their own inane decision to forgo higher education and take their little "throw away" job. They offer assinine suggestions to "take any job" at the first sign of trouble because thats the only jobs these idiots can get.
What these fools don't realize is that these people are the backbone of Americas' technology and without them and the industry that is quickly being moved offshore this country will no longer be the technical giant it used to be. Without our high tech our country is not going to be a super power for long and these idiots had better learn to speak Arabic of Chinese very quickly.
So that is why I am on this thread
Funny you should say that. I was layed off in NYC right after Sept. 11. It was Oct 5th 2001 to be exact. And I immediately went on Unemployment because I had no income coming in and was out of work for 8 months pounding the pavement every day. Finally I was able to get a job at $13,000 less a year than what I was previously making. I took it because I knew I needed money and would probably still be out if I didn't. The whole time I was out there I knew and the employment agencies told me that I would NOT get the same salary I was making. Believe me when I got the job I was so happy to have work that I didn't care and I still don't. I look at it this way - when the job market picks up again (and it will) I can always look for another job making more money.
Pretty simple
and so are you ....
And severly cut corporate taxes here in the good ol USA
You lost that money because you didn't invest soundly, got greedy and didn't sell in time. I did too, the only difference is I'm not on here whining about it asking everyone else (who lost as well) to bail me out.
Actually I agree with this. I don't think that the government should be in the UI business. I think that people should be able to buy their own UI policy from whatever company would offer it. A company could buy it for their employees as a perk. I think that most people who are drawing UI would not object to it being a loan to be paid back at some later date. I am sure that a lot of people that are laid off would have been happy to purchase a layoff insurance policy
" A lot (including myself) lost all their savimg and investments. "
Simply, your own words. WHAT, specifically you invested in in unimportant, the results speak for themselves. Successful investing means that you end up with more than you started with. You didn't. You were unsuccessful. People that got out in time, WERE successful. There weren't many, but it happened. You, like myself and many others went along with the masses. That group rarely scores big in any market. Learn from it and quit bitching.
BTW, on this thread, you've claimed UI is a gov't program and that it isn't. Which is it? (kind of a trick question, granted)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.